mayurisjikoni

A good light dinner or lunch idea   Woman's Day was on March 8th and for many it may have not been so special a day or maybe your family made it special for you. Hubby dear spent the day questioning when is Man's Day??? Several times my daughter fights not to be treated differently from her two siblings, but we just cannot help worrying a bit more for her than her two brothers. The world is still not safe for women. They are easy targets and its so easy for men to label them as cheap, brainless, provocative, asking for it, weak, animals, uneducated, selfish, etc. We have given our daughter the same opportunities as her brothers.However, we are just a bit more cautious and keep in touch with her more often than we do with the boys. If she gets home late from work we worry a bit, we ask her to leave mobile numbers of friends, hotel name, room number etc when she goes on holidays with her friends, rickshaw number and the drivers license number to be sent to friends or when taking ...

very tempting    For the month of February, the International Food Challenge was Bordeaux cuisine. The recipes were given by Saraswathi. Bordeaux is the port city on River Garonne in the south west region of France. It is famous for its wine as it sits in the wine region of France. Bordeaux is famous for shopping, wining and dining. We had a choice of French vanilla and rum cakes, Bordeaux cookies or Mesclun salad. Since I have baked a lot for the past two months I decided on making the salad.    What is mesclun? Mesclun comes from the Provençal word mescla (to mix) which literally means mixture. Mesclun is a mixture of young spring time edible leaves. The mixture can have arugula, spinach, endive, chervil, mustard greens, swiss chard, mache, lettuces and sometimes added with edible flowers like nasturtiums,dandelions or rose petals.These young leaves add a flavorful taste to the preparation. Goat cheese, other salad vegetables, dried fruits,onions, shallots etc are...

a special treat for a special person    What is ravioli? Its small pasta envelopes that contain a filling and is served with a sauce. We all are familiar with the savoury variety filled with meat, fish, cheese or vegetables and served with tomato, cheese or creamy sauce. Or just drizzled with loads of olive oil or melted butter. I am drooling as I love ravioli. For the February shhh cooking secretly challenge I was paired with Sathya Priya Karthik . The two ingredients she gave me were pasta and strawberry. When I read the two ingredients, I scratched my head and thought 'not exactly a lovely combination for Valentine's day'. The first thing that came to my mind was salad. Pasta salad with strawberries. But that was too easy. I had to think out of the box. Sometime back I had come across a recipe of sweet ravioli. So decided to try that out. I did not follow any one particular recipe. Took hints from different recipes. I was tempted to fry the ravioli as its normally serve...

Good to be back     Its been nearly 5 weeks since I have not blogged a recipe. That seems a long time. However, cooking did not stop for those 5 weeks. Like most mothers I wanted to feed everything to my daughter in the time we were with her. That includes eating out also. Over the years HSR Layout in Bangalore has grown by leaps and bounds. When my daughter first started college there, we rented an apartment near the college. At that time besides 2 main grocery stores and a Tamil cuisine take away, there was not much on the 27th Main Road. Slowly new shops and a restaurant appeared. However in the past 2-3 years HSR Layout has become a very busy hub with shops, restaurants, banks, schools, medical centers, a busy BDA complex, supermarkets, fruit and vegetable shops, etc. We no longer have to go all the way to Koramangala or Indiranagar for things. The Outer Ring road is completely changed with malls and IT parks. During this visit what I noticed sadly is that greenery is...

A filling satisfying snack    Packing is all done, finally cleared out the fridge and after breakfast we will be leaving for the airport. Really excited. There's much talk about the new terminal at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.Also will get to pass through the new terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport after it got burnt and is now renovated.Who wouldn't be excited to go to India? I know of many Indians born and brought up in Kenya who really don't have such a strong feeling for India. There are times when the crowds and noise get to me. However after a good night's sleep, that is all over and I am ready for another exciting adventure. Shopping, eating out, movies, spending time with family and getting pampered.    As I had mentioned before, the cuisine in the coastal region of Kenya has a strong Indian, Arabic and local influence. One such dish is Mombasa Mix. People coming from upcountry don't want to leave Mombasa without having the famous egg kim...

 Magic box cooking   Travelling is exciting but what I don't like is all the preparations I have to make before the travelling. I leave for India on Sunday. Excited that I will spend some time with my daughter. However, all these little chores that I have to get through before we travel is stressful. Clear the fridge, make sure lentils are stored away properly, must pack up all the different flours and store them in the fridge, check out the masalas, make sure no perishable stuff is left in the kitchen otherwise on my return will find a stinking kitchen! So the last few days are actually like the magic box they offer to the contestants on Masterchef.  Odd ingredients have to be put together to prepare lunch or dinner. I get so tempted to buy other ingredients but actually have to stop myself. The minute Esther or Amena (our daily veggie ladies) ring the bell, I get a wee bit excited but quickly have to come back to reality. To top it up today my househelp Julius reminds m...

very nutritious - grandmother's remedy          What is raab? Raab is like a soup or porridge made from millet flour. I remember my grandmother having this when she would not feel like eating a normal meal. Lactating mums are given raab everyday, its a remedy for sore throats and colds. Its given to people recovering from an illness. Its a filling dish for elderly people who don't feel like eating a normal meal or cannot eat spicy food. Raab has loads of benefits. Its a comfort food and wards off cold. Prepare it when you feel like having something sweet and hot. Its nutritious so you can sip through it without any guilt.I love raab and find any excuse to make it. Here are some of the benefits of the ingredients used in making raab: Millet flour : easily digested, has alkaline properties, rich in magnesium, rich in protein and niacin, gluten free, the serotonin in millet has a calming effect on ones mood, it has low glycemic index, good for the heart, keeps chol...